Clothes-line adjuster



(No ModeL) H. F. METZLER. CLOTHES LINE ADJUSTER.

No. 426,731. Patented Apr. 29, 1.890.

UNITED. STATES ATENT OEEICE.

CLOTH ES-LINE ADJUSTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 426,731, dated. April 29, 1890. Application led September 6, 1889. Serial No. 323,115. (No model.) i

To all whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, HENRY F. METZLER, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Clothes-Line Adjuster, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of my invention is to provide a cheap and practical device to be applied to endless or traveling clothes-lines, whereby the adjustment or drawing of the line taut may be easily effected, and whereby the strain on the line incident to shrinkage in wet weather will be automatically relieved; and to this end my invention consists of a line# holder comprising a body or stock slotted at one end to form jaws recessed at their adjacent surfaces to receive one end of the rope and bound togetherby a bolt passed through both jaws to grasp the rope, and formed at the opposite end with an aperture or other fastening to receive the other 'end of the rope, the clamped end of the rope passing around the bolt as around a pulley.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure l illust-rates my invention in use. Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the holder and adjuster, showing the ends of the rope; and Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same.

A represents a clothes-line passed around the two pulleys B O, one fastened to the pole D and the other to the window-frame or other part of the building E. The ends of the rope are held by the adjuster or holder F, one end being passed through an aperture a and knotted, the other passed between the jaws l) b, and around the bolt F as around a pulley. The stock or body of the holder may be of wood or metal,preferably of wood, and is slotted at c, endwise, to form the said jaws b b. The adjacent surfaces of the said jaws are recessed, as shown at d cl, to form space for the rope to pass between the jaws and around the bolt F. The said bolt may be a separate common bolt passed through the j aws and provided with a thumb-screw F2, for tightening the jaws upon the rope. If the stock be made of metal, a common thumb bolt may be used, one of the jaws t-o be screwtapped to receive it., and in place of the aperture a any suitable fastening for the rope may be'fornied at the end of the stock.

In use, to draw the line taut to receive clothes it is only necessary to grasp the end A and draw the rope through between the jaws around the bolt F', and when taut screw down the nut, thus closing the jaws upon the rope with sufficient firmness to hold it from slipping back. The grip of the jaws on the line cannot be so firm but thatrshortening of the rope from rain or dampness will draw the line through between the jaws, thus compensating for the shrinkage without injurious strain; but in most instances, when the clothes are removed from the line, the nut will be turned slightly back to relieve the pressure of the jaws von the line, but not so as to slacken the line materially.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The clothes-line holder and adjuster herein shown and described, comprising a stock constructed at one end to receive one end of the line and slotted back at c to form jaws l) Z1,

Ythe same being recessed at d d flat across the adjacent faces of the jaws, in combination with the bolt F passed through the center of both jaws to serve as a pulley to the rope and as means to close the jaws upon the rope, substantially as set forth.

HENRY F. METZLER.

, Vitnesses:

CHARLES II. DANcEY, WILLIAM LONG. 

